


Storytime

by LadyCorvidae, roseforthethorns



Series: Watch the World Burn [14]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Established Relationship, Feels, Holy cow something fairly tame, M/M, Old Age, Surprise epilogue to WTWB, Tears from the readers, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-14
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 07:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/536825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCorvidae/pseuds/LadyCorvidae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseforthethorns/pseuds/roseforthethorns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim wants a bedtime story</p><p>(I own nothing of these characters. All Sherlock rights go to the BBC, Moffat, and Gatiss. I'm just having some fun.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Storytime

**Author's Note:**

> SURPRISE!!! This is absolutely the last one, I swear it. And, well, you'll see why. I am actually genuinely sorry. Leave your heart at the door and your feels in the comments.

"Tell me a story, Tiger."

Seb chuckled. "What d'you want to hear?"

"I don't know, something good. I like hearing you talk, and you... you do stories so well. Maybe... maybe a knight and a king? Yes, yes I think that might work."

Taking a deep breath, Seb began: "Once, there was a great king. The king was the most clever man in the realm. He ruled it just and fairly, and all of his subjects both loved and feared him. But the king needed a knight, a brave knight to protect him because there had been attempts on the king's life. Cruel, wicked men wanted to take his place and his kingdom. So the king made out a royal proclamation, stating that all eligible men come to the castle to hold an audience with the king to see who was worthy of being his bodyguard.

"Men poured in from around the kingdom and showed off their feats of strength and wit, their skill and nerve. But as the king watched, he frowned. None of these men would be loyal to him. They would all turn on him if his enemies offered them a high enough price. The king was about to lose hope when a lowly hunter came to try out for the position of the king's bodyguard. The other men laughed; what use would a _king_ have of a mere _hunter_? But the hunter quickly stopped them from laughing; he performed every task that the king set before him with flawless ease. _And_ he was loyal. When the king had a man try and bribe the hunter, the hunter brought the king the man's head.

"The hunter won the job, and stayed by the king's side. They spent years together, the king, and his loyal hunter, guarding him from the shadows, and the king and the hunter loved each other fiercely. And so, when the king grew old, he passed his crown on to a worthy successor, and the king and his hunter vanished to far-off lands, to live out the rest of their days in peace. The End." Seb sighed as he sat back in his chair, after his tale was done. The firelight glinted off his husband's snow-white hair, and the fine, spidery wrinkles that traced his face. He smiled and reached out one hand, now gnarled by age, and took Jim's.

"That was lovely, my Tiger," Jim murmured, gently squeezing Seb's hand and letting out a soft sight. "My valiant hunter, my knight."

He smiled. "My Magpie, my wise king," he said, squeezing back.

"Come on, love. Let's to bed. Don't know about you but these joints are giving me a right fucking difficult time."

"All right, hold on. Let me get up and I'll help you," he said. He stood, his own joints creaking and complaining, knees popping as he straightened. He took Jim's other hand and helped him gently to his feet. "To bed, my love."

Leaning on his husband, Jim made his way to their room, Seb by his side the whole time. They stripped and brushed their teeth before climbing into bed, wrapping up in each other as they always did. Sebastian let out a great sigh as he settled back in the pillows, his fingers entwined with his husband's as they rested softly against each other. Their life in the countryside, after their retirement from the criminal underworld was a good one. They had a lovely little house with beautiful sprawling gardens (which, true to Jim's prediction, was been the envy of the neighborhood), and Jim's in-home library was without parallel. Every Thursday, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson would stop over for tea, the men no longer having any quarrel. Sherlock would often bring honey from the bees he kept and discuss their habits with Jim, and Seb would swap gardening tips with John. Their life was peaceful and, while Seb thought he'd loathe it at first, he was content.

"Did you ever think we'd end up like this? Old men, actually friends and friendly rivals with Sherlock and Johnny-Boy?"

"Y'know, I didn't. Always thought I'd die from a knife or a bullet. But this... I've grown to love this," he said.

"I still love you more."

Seb chuckled. "As much as I love you? Impossible."

"No, it isn't."

"Right as always, love."

"Now you're just humoring me." Jim grinned, gently biting at Seb's shoulder. "Can't mark you the way I used to anymore, Tiger." His fingers traced slowly down the old scars on Seb's ribcage and the ones on his husband's arms.

"Yeah... we're both too old for that," he said, placing his hand over Jim's.

The younger man blinked emotion out of his eyes, pushing it away. "I'm so afraid I'll wake and have lost you. I don't want to go to sleep, Tiger."

"Shhh, Jimmy. We'll both fall asleep together, all right? Promise you I'll still be here when we wake," Seb said, reassuring his husband.

"Are you sure? I can't live without you. Tried that and I _can't_."

"I promise. And that goes for you as well. Don't... don't go without me, all right?"

Jim's eyes flashed, the hint of a much younger man showing through the age and wrinkles. " _Never_."

The once-large man, now shrunk and slightly stooped with age (he was, after all, pushing ninety-five), chuckled. "Good."

The former consulting criminal pressed a very gentle kiss to Seb's lips. "Goodnight, my Tiger. Sleep well, and I'll see you in the morning."

"Sweet dreams, Magpie. See you in the morning."

Jim closed his eyes, his breathing slowing down in sleep while he lay in his husband's arms, but they were not to wake again. Unable to live without each other, they passed in their sleep, discovered the next morning by the former consulting detective and his blogger, still smiling and their hands still entwined.

A knight and his king, together forever, even in death.

**Author's Note:**

> I had intended this idea to be for something else, but our brains being what they are, LadyCorvidae came up with this idea. We don't regret it, but we both sobbed like babies writing it. So, we apologize for the excess feels. We really, really do. Special thanks to blackcrystaly for the idea about John and Sherlock.


End file.
